Soil Physical Properties

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Overview

Sustainable forest management relies on defining and monitoring ecosystem parameters to evaluate the response to practices such as access development and harvesting.  Soil-based parameters, and particularly soil physical properties, are important in this regard because they underpin many important ecosystem processes, are relatively resistant to change in natural systems, yet can be strongly affected by forest management.

Our ongoing studies feature a comprehensive approach using both field and laboratory investigations to explore new measures of soil physical conditions and their effect on soil productivity and ecological sustainability on a variety of site types in BC.

Our objectives are to

  1. identify soil physical conditions that are consistent with productive forest growth on disturbed and undisturbed soils in a variety of ecosystems,
  2. develop and introduce management tools for the rapid evaluation of soil physical conditions in BC’s forests, and
  3. describe, for a range of site and soil types in BC, a comprehensive picture of physical factors affecting the growth of tree roots and its variation throughout the growing season.
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Projects

  • Relative measure of bulk density to characterize compaction of forest soils caused by harvest
  • Cost-effective indicators of soil physical condition: natural variation in the relative bulk density and associated tree growth as measures of forest productivity and ecosystem resilience
  • Soil strength and water content of BC’s forest soils.
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Recent Publications (link to all Soils Publications)

Zhao, Y.S., M. Krzic, C.E. Bulmer, and M. Schmidt. 2008. Maximum bulk density of British Columbia forest soils from the proctor test: relationships with selected physical and chemical properties. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 72(2):442-452

Blouin, V.M., M. Schmidt, C.E. Bulmer, and M. Krzic. 2005. Mechanical disturbance impacts on soil properties and lodgepole pine growth in British Columbia’s central interior. Can. J. Soil Sci. 85(5):681-691.

Bulmer, C.E. and D.G. Simpson. 2005. Soil compaction and water content as factors affecting the growth of lodgepole pine seedlings on sandy clay loam soil. Can. J. Soil Sci.85(5):667-679.

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Contact

Chuck Bulmer, Soil Scientist

Ministry contact: Evelyn Hamilton.
Please direct questions regarding webpage to For.Prodres@gov.bc.ca
Updated July 2009